Through The Eyes Of A Balloon
by ketsuki
Summary: This is my first YnM fic, so if it's bad, gimme a break! Also, I have watched exactly one episode of the anime, I've only heard bits and pieces of Tsuzuki's past, so if it's wrong, tell me! Summary: **Insert title** R&R!


A/N: Yeah, I know, "What ever gave me this idea?" Well, it was around 4:30, after this little Fun&Games thing my church set up, and there were balloons on sale/given there, right? So after we came out of the community center, my sister released her pink balloon into the air and it flew away. And as I watched it fly, I imagined what a balloon would be thinking as it is given to a child, then released.  
  
**Of course, Tsuzuki really doesn't get a chance to release it, BUT I thoroughly enjoyed writing this short piece (Ket-chan: SHORT?) and I hope you enjoy reading it as well**  
  
And of course, as always, review review review!  
  
(If you want me to continue.I don't mind flames, but I would PREFER constructive criticism.-_-;;)  
  
Through The Eyes of A Balloon  
  
Written by: Ketsuki  
  
15/12/01  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
I have only been around for a short time. Lithe hands hold me as they give us off to tiny children. Their bright round eyes and squeals of delight make my current owner laugh along. I am glad we are able to cause such joy.  
  
Children with their parents are crowded around us, tiny chubby hands reaching out to grab the ribbons attached to the closed opening at our bottoms. I am blue with a silver checkmark on it. Nobody is looking at me, but all of my own is being sold left and right, and my owner is happy. Owner is also happy she is making kids happy. I am too.  
  
I slip slightly higher, and owner grabs onto our ribbons tighter to keep us from flying away. She needs to keep us safe or we will fly forever away. I have seen my own fly high into the sky, and disappear among clouds.  
  
I am made of helium and filled with air so I fly. I float and I never touch the ground - at least until my kind run out of air. But for the time being, we are making kids happy and I am glad.  
  
But - who? That child, with the soft brown hair and - what was that? If I could reel back in surprise, I would've done so. That young boy had amethyst eyes. Not that that's bad, mind you. From my short lifetime, I have seen brown, blue, green, eyes, but never purple. They're just different.  
  
His cheeks are stained with tears, his head bent, his purple eyes staring at the ground. I could only catch sight of his eyes when he had looked up longingly at the other kids. Kids everywhere stared and pointed and whispered, but he slowly shrank away, eyes wide and scared. He was edging away and walking, his pace picking up a little faster, bit by bit.  
  
I saw the child look up and stare - at me! I can do nothing but drift and bounce to the wind. I saw the longing, the simple childish longing as he stares at me.  
  
Apparently, my owner recognizes such longing as well. I turn a bit and saw a small smile drift across her face. She gently pushes the children around her aside and makes her way to the child. All the other children, seemingly satisfied, walked back to their parents, but I turned to see the parents' disapproving eyes staring at the back of my owner's back. Why?  
  
The child's eyes widen as my owner hands him me, I float above his head as he wraps his surprisingly slender fingers around my ribbon and held onto my tightly. I listen to their conversation.  
  
"You look lonely, little one. You may keep that balloon to keep you company, child", she said, smiling and winking childishly.  
  
The child smiled shyly, and nodded. "A-arigatou. Bu-but, aren't you afraid of me?" He says it so surely, as if he's expecting her to hate him.  
  
She frowned. "Why would I?"  
  
"My eyes", he said, staring at the ground, "everyone says they are demon eyes. I am a demon, they all say".  
  
My owner shook her head and turned to stare at the parents who were still staring at her, then turned back to the child. "Do you know what I see when I look into your eyes, little one?"  
  
The child shook his head, his eyes full of wonder at the kind lady who knelt in front of him.  
  
"I see wonder and curiosity as all children should I have. I see a pureness and innocence, and one who longs for other to accept him. I see myself, reflected upon a pool of happiness, that now, someone has finally taken the time to talk to him".  
  
The boy blinked, and smiled. A true smile of childish happiness, his eyes shining brightly with unshed tears. "Arigatou. My name is Asato Tsuzuki", he said quietly.  
  
"Watashi Sakamoto Nariko. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tsu-chan", she said.  
  
He nodded, continuing to smile.  
  
"Don't ever forget to smile, Tsu-chan. A smile looks beautiful on you, no matter big or small, but tears and a frown clashes with your eyes", she said and stood up.  
  
"You're leaving?" Tsuzuki asked, eyes filled pleading with her to stay.  
  
She smiled, and ruffled his soft brown hair with her hand. "I must. I have to sell more balloons. But don't worry. As long as a child thinks of something, that something will always be with them. If you want a friend, think of this balloon, and that will remind you of me. Ja ne, Tsu-chan", she said and walked away, others like me floating above her head, as if waving me goodbye.  
  
"JA NE!" Tsuzuki shouted, waving frantically.  
  
My ex-owner smiled and waved, then disappeared around the corner of the park. Tsuzuki looked up at me, his smile practically overflowing with happiness. His hand tightened on the other end of my ribbon, and he skipped along the path, completely unlike how he was a minute ago.  
  
It is amazing how a few words of kindness can do for a child.  
  
I bounce along with him, thinking. This child is different. He felt pain before he met my owner. But my owner cheered him up, and therefore, he was happy.  
  
He is happy, and that is important for now.  
  
But his happiness does not last long.  
  
WHACK!  
  
I flew forward and smacked him over the head by accident. As I bounced up, I saw a hand slapping me yet again. I bounced. Tsuzuki looked behind him and his beautiful amethyst eyes widen.  
  
It was a large boy, who had a cruel smile, and a bunch of other boys and girls behind him, all glaring at Tsuzuki.  
  
They pick up rocks and throw it at him, they jeer and laugh at him, they poke him with branches as if they are afraid to touch him. And all the while, he is crying, sobbing to be exact, and hardly making a sound. They continued, not caring whether he was hurting or in pain. Only doing it for their own sick enjoyment.  
  
I cannot stop them. I am powerless. They beat up Tsuzuki, they drag him by his hair, they punch and kick him. They simply don't care who is watching, they do it anyway. And I am powerless to stop them.  
  
The boys are the ones who tear him apart, physically and mentally. The females are doing the teasing, the snarls and sneers, the smirks on their faces. There are grown-ups, adults around who watch. Who simply watch and do nothing. They condemn him. I don't know why. Why? Until I heard -  
  
"You stupid freak! You're a demon, you monster, with your ugly purple eyes! They're not even normal. Everyone else has green or blue or black or brown, you have purple! You, the DEMON!"  
  
At hearing this, I am frightened. Tsuzuki's eyes - just a minute ago, shining with happiness - darkens and becomes a dark and dead sort of purple, no longer the bright amethyst it used to be. He stops crying, he doesn't care anymore.  
  
His grip on me loosens. The kids grab me and jerk me around. They are fighting over me. He falls.  
  
And I can't take it. I can't take it anymore. The dirty hands that are pulling my long swirling ribbon, my helium body stretched far beyond it's capability to stretch, and staring at his eyes - his poor eyes! The eyes of which he is condemned for - how could they possibly do this? His eyes are what make him so unique, so special, so - so - innocent. Instead of bringing happiness, they bring terror, pain, and torture.  
  
Suddenly, I am gone. The air rushes out of me. I deflate, and explode. I feel no pain that Tsuzuki is feeling right now. I am ripped into pieces. I lie on the concrete, the concrete's rough texture ripping me even more.  
  
The kids are leaving. I think that they think their fun is over. I watched Tsuzuki's eyes filled with tears, and a split second, just a split second, see the happiness I saw when he met my owner, disappear into the whirlpool of sorrow of his eyes, and they are left empty and unemotional.  
  
He crawled over to me and with his fingers that are scraped and bleeding, pick up the biggest piece of me. He picks it up, and holds onto it tightly. Just as he was about to put it into his pocket, the wind picks up and I fly away, the piece is ripped from his deft fingers and flies into the air. I watch him as his face slowly tilts up, his eyes following my movement.  
  
He mournfully sighed, and then stood up, wincing as he grabbed his arm, which seemed to be in a stuck weird angle.  
  
He turned and walked away from me, slowly, dragging his feet as blood trickles down from a cut on his face.  
  
I would've cried if I had eyes. I would've sobbed if I had a mouth and a throat. I would've hugged him if I had arms.  
  
But I had none of those things.  
  
I am only a balloon, ripped to pieces, and watching my dear Tsuzuki drag himself home.  
  
And even if I'm not human, nor am I animate, I still feel pain. A deep gnawing that came from seemingly nowhere - and I realize -  
  
The pain is his. I am only feeling an ounce of it. 


End file.
